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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

shawnoc said:
@Matt N Mexicana used to be Calmity Canyon, originally a Wild West theme. Mexicana came about when Rattlesnake was built.
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Ah of course; I forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me @shawnoc!

Out of interest, was anything on the Rattlesnake site before it was built, or was it just vacant land? Sorry to keep pestering you all with questions; I must admit the history of Chessington and its evolution into a theme park does really interest me!
 
Matt N said:
Ah of course; I forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me @shawnoc!

Out of interest, was anything on the Rattlesnake site before it was built, or was it just vacant land? Sorry to keep pestering you all with questions; I must admit the history of Chessington and its evolution into a theme park does really interest me!
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The Rattlesnake site used to be a reptile house? (As far as I can see on the old maps)
 
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Thameslink Rail said:
The Rattlesnake site used to be a reptile house? (As far as I can see on the old maps)
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Yes because they moved them to the first version of creepy caves. The cowboy gun show when the rattlesnake first opened was on par with Disney! The effects in the area were incredible. The whole set outside the entrance of the rattlesnake had fun shot movements (lamps would move, balcony's would fall!). Chessington was so good then.
 
Matt N said:
On another “old Chessington”-related note; did Tussauds have Tomb Blaster and Duel’s ride systems bespokely designed by Mack as a custom ride system?
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Matt N said:
I was under the impression that Tomb Blaster was an omnimover, but I could have sworn that someone once told me it had separate trains.
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Tomb Blaster was never an omnimover, it has always had the exact same ride system it still uses today, with trains turning and stopping to watch scenes play out.

Both this and Haunted House were prototype Mack ride systems to suit what the parks wanted to build.

Interestingly there was another side to the Mexicana (Calamity Canyon back then) 'street' before Rattlesnake was built there!
 
Thameslink Rail said:
The Rattlesnake site used to be a reptile house? (As far as I can see on the old maps)
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It may well be my memory failing me, but I thought the rattlesnake site was the giraffe enclosure previously? I'm sure I remember looking at giraffes there, it was always on a slope so you were looking at them head height from around the current entrance area.
 
skyscraper said:
Surely Chessington won't be able to open til Covid testing is ended/reduced, as their entire main car park is currently a testing facility? Will be interesting to see what happens.
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It's likely for facemasks to be a mandatory thing as they've used it as a testing site and also it's a compact theme park compared to Alton.
 
Pleasure Beach Valhalla said:
It's likely for facemasks to be a mandatory thing as they've used it as a testing site and also it's a compact theme park compared to Alton.
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I'd be surprised if they operate any differently to other UK theme parks to be honest - they'll want consistency between the parks.

As for it being a testing site, that's out in the car parks. Given that social distancing rules dictate a 2m separation, I should imagine a few hundred meters, with buildings and other obstacles in the way, would be plenty!
 
If it’s still going on, I guess they’ll just use he fields, which they always seem to want you to use anyway. And I guess hotel car park isn’t part of where the testing is anyway.

Also by the time they open the testing places may wind down a bit more than they are now.
 
That recently isnt their main car park anymore so it'll be fine (they signpost the grass ones as their main car parks now, the others are mostly hotels and express stuff)
 
I presume the testing facility could be moved pretty easily too, if Merlin wanted that car park back sooner.

Plenty of gyms which are some way off being able to reopen.
 
WillPS said:
I presume the testing facility could be moved pretty easily too, if Merlin wanted that car park back sooner.

Plenty of gyms which are some way off being able to reopen.
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Given that the testing facility is a mass drive-through affair, there aren't going to be many other suitable locations, and gyms certainly wouldn't work.

But, as said, it's a moot point - the park mainly use the south car park anyway, which with reduced capacities will more than suffice.
 
OilyWater said:
That recently isnt their main car park anymore so it'll be fine (they signpost the grass ones as their main car parks now, the others are mostly hotels and express stuff)
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It is a shame though as although Chessington doesn't really have a proper entrance area, the entrance from the hard car parks and hotel area is nicer as you come into the lawn and the house (now Room on the Broom). Whereas the other entrance seems to dump you at Dragon's Fury and lacks any grandness,.
 
jon81uk said:
It is a shame though as although Chessington doesn't really have a proper entrance area, the entrance from the hard car parks and hotel area is nicer as you come into the lawn and the house (now Room on the Broom). Whereas the other entrance seems to dump you at Dragon's Fury and lacks any grandness,.
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I can see why they moved the normal entrance to the other side, but they really should have redesigned that side of the park to go with it.

Now the park feels very skewed and your first impression feels like you've just come in round the back (which you have). People head straight to the first ride they see swamping it with queues instead of filtering through the park. But I can't imagine it would ever get developed properly, when it's cheaper to just do nothing as usual and let the problems get worse
 
It’s simply amazing how Chessington’s entrances greatly contrast each other, yet festure their own problems.

The Lodge entrance is certainly more rewarding and appeasing to the eye, as you see Burnt Stub mansion in the background with ample landscaping as you venture towards the heart of the park.

Meanwhile the Explorer one lacks any form of buildup or excitement as you literally end up slap bang in one of the busiest and crowded areas of the park. I don’t know how this looked pre-2004 but it has to be one of the most underwhelming park entrances I have seen.

Around 4/5 years ago, this became the main entrance to the park yet features infrastructure such as booths and toilet facilities. It’s had a few touch ups since but ideally needs a large overhaul which is unlikely to ever happen.
 
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Matt Creek said:
It’s simply amazing how Chessington’s entrances greatly contrast each other, yet festure their own problems.

The Lodge/Southern entrance is certainly more rewarding and appeasing to the eye, as you see Burnt Stub mansion in the background with ample landscaping as you venture towards the heart of the park.
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The 'Lodge' entrance with the tarmac car park and the Hotels is northern and the grass car parks are southern. But yes I agree, the northern, Burnt Stub area entrance is much much nicer than the other one.

(Although realistically neither are great, both are small and weirdly designed and aren't exactly very exciting ways to enter a theme park.)
 
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